I told you here at this post that I was going to try to budget $35 a week for our groceries and household items.

We are one week into the new year and I want to tell you how I’m doing and how I’m doing it. Will I be able to keep a $35 a week budget? Only time will tell. I’m saving my receipts so I can keep better accountability (which includes reporting back to you here at the blog). You will see I share some of what I bought, I won’t always tell you every little thing.

I spent / bought:

1/1/11    Acme:      $14.50

{15 cans of Campbell’s soups (mainly Tomato) & 12 cans of Starkist Tuna & 2 boxes of Ronzoni Smart Thin Spaghetti.  Why? The soup and tuna was all  $ .50 a can and I had a coupon for 2 boxes of Ronzoni making it .75 a box!

1/2/11   Walmart : $13.06

Using coupons for FREE product I received Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce and my bottle of Purex Crystals for free, pd .91 for bananas.  I did spend about $12 on Christmas decorations (especially for table settings and centerpieces) for next year.  Why? This was important to me and since it as 75% off I took advantage.

1/2/2011 Marc’s:      $3.96 {2 packs of Echrich Sausage (Kielbasa type stuff)}.

1/7/11  Beuhler’s: $14.53

{10# tube of 100% Angus 80% lean hamburger at $1.49 per pound}. Our Beuhler’s is back to their daily deals and this is great meat at an even better price ONLY available on Fridays. I’ve watched hamburger prices and I can’t ever recall seeing any deals this low. It has to be bought in aprx. 10 # packages. I plan to stretch this 10#s over the next 3 weeks or so. And thats “Why”  😉 .

*Side note for the locals: Our Beuhler’s at Noble’s Pond is DOUBLING coupons on Sundays only and check the weekly ad for what the special of the day is.  I think Tuesdays milk will be .79 half gallon again, limit 5.

1/7/11  Giant Eagle: $10.32

{3 cans of Pillsbury Crescent dough with sale & coupon was $1.30 each , 3  /4-packs of Snack Pack Pudding with sale & coupon was  $ .60 each pack), Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste with coupon was $2.49}.  Why? I plan to use the crescent dough for some really tasty ham & cheese sandwiches and maybe Chicken Puffs. I’ll share those recipes with you later 😉 . I need special toothpaste now for sensitivity and its not cheap stuff. I usually buy Sensodyne and if you do too, you know how NOT cheap it is. I consider $2.49 a real deal for sensitive toothpaste.  ***Giant Eagle is the only store I know of that Doubles Coupons up to .99 every day!

1/7/2011    Hostess Outlet: $7.93

{4 loaves of Nature’s Pride bread 100% Whole Wheat Oven Classics, 1 pack of hot dog buns, 2 boxes of small donuts (.99 cent sale)- and bonus: we got a free pack of rolls they were giving away.  Why? At Hostess you can get a buyer’s card and receive stamps for every $2 spent. Then redeem when your card is full. You can find “healthier for you” bread cheaper like $1.29 each, the donuts were  $ .99 a box (reg.price for one was over $3). The plan is to stretch all of this at least 3 wks…till the end of the month.

1/7/2011   Walmart:      $37.69 aprx. $22.oo

Basics like butter, milk,  toilet paper, etc.  AND a mixer for about $16 because mine died before Christmas- after 8 1/2 yrs. Did one final check before breaking out the new one and mine IS working AGAIN. I’ll be returning this new one 😉

Total:

$85.90 -$12.00 Christmas decor and $16.00 Mixer =

$73.90  used  for grocery/household

Why? Appliances aren’t really part of my intention for “grocery/household” and neither are incidental purchases like 75% off Christmas decor.  So I will go with $74 used out of my January budget of  $140  (4 whole weeks x $35).

I have $66.00 left for the month  if I keep my $35/ week grocery/household budget.  I definitley need a Menu  PLAN! Today I worked on a plan to break down our dinners into a different theme per night and then within each theme I will have a list of choices…more on that in another post. I’m still working on it 😉

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